Talent LOVES pizza. I let him choose what he eats for lunch most days. And most days he either wants pizza or a waffle with yogurt and fruit. I figure you have to pick your battles and generally if he gets to pick his lunch, he doesn't fight me too much on dinner. The last two days in a row he has wanted pizza. I usually buy Digiorno pizza and get the little individual pizzas so that I can cook just enough for him.
Yesterday I noticed that he had a welt on his little face after he finished eating. I shrugged it off because it didn't seem to bother him much and it was just one small one. Today it happened again, only this time it was a much bigger welt and he had another one on his tummy where pizza sauce had gotten on him. After reading on the box to see if there was anything in it that could be a trigger I was frustrated. I didn't see anything. So I scanned the barcode with my phone using the ShopWell app I have. Turns out the pizza has soybean oil in it. UGH! He has eaten these pizza's a million times and never had a reaction. I had to remind myself that the ENT told me this could happen anytime. Something he has eaten a million times could show no allergy and the very next time is the time he will react. It's frustrating to say the very least. It's the first time we've had a reaction in a very long time. I've been able to get his allergies & eczema under control for the most part. It's a hard battle at times and so frustrating. Once you think you are making progress and getting things to a "normal" stage where things are livable, he has a reaction.
I hate food allergies. I hope and pray that he grows out of some of these. I don't think he will grow out of the peanut allergy. But, from everything I've read and been told by the allergist, he has a good chance of growing out of the rest. I'm very hopeful. It's hard for me to sit here and know there isn't anything I can do to change it. Sometimes it is so stressful. Other people don't understand why I'm so paranoid about them touching him. Especially after they have eaten.
I don't let people keep him often. I know people think I'm selfish but truth is, I don't think most people take his allergies as seriously as they should. That thought absolutely TERRIFIES me. This is my child. It's my job to make sure he's safe. So when people push me to put him in a mother's day out program or leave him in a daycare because they think he needs the interaction with other kids.....I just want them to understand. I realize those things might be good for him socially.....but, I'd rather him be safe and I just am not comfortable putting him in those situations until he can talk and tell someone he can't breathe or that he feels funny because he ate something he wasn't supposed to eat. My nephew is in daycare. So far in the last two weeks he has come home with a black eye, bite marks that were so deep he was bruised, and a big red whelped up scratch on his back. All of which the daycare didn't know how or when they happened. Now tell me if they don't know a kid got bit, hit, or scratched, will they know if a kid ate something they were allergic to? No, probably not. They aren't paying that close of attention. So forgive me for not wanting to put my kid in a strangers care when I already see that they don't pay good attention. I just wish people could see this from my point of view sometimes. I'm not trying to be overprotective or paranoid. I'm just trying to do the best job possible of keeping my kid safe. I've seen the reactions first hand. It's scary. Honestly, I know my reaction time to the allergies is very quick....I don't want to have to trust someone else and their reaction time. It isn't a trust thing, it's a Momma thing. I just know my kid and his allergies better than anyone because I'm with him all the time.
I just wish people could try and understand. Maybe put themselves in my shoes and try to think how they would feel if the roles were reversed and it was their kid in Talent's situation and them in mine. Being a parent of a food allergic kid is tough. You have to read a lot. You have to be very aware. Sometimes you risk hurting feelings.....like when we go to my grandparents or my brothers and I am picking up allergens and putting them up where Talent can't reach them. (My grandparents like pecans and keep them in a bowl by the recliner. And my brother & SIL have a Snickers addiction) I am constantly on the look out for allergens anytime we go somewhere.
I never realized how difficult things were for people with food allergies. There is SO much that is out there that you have to be aware of. I'm thankful that my eyes have been opened. It makes me think about other people that have these allergies too.
